DD Lux III ... Options needed....

Hiya all...

I am thinking of modding my mini M-G ... (Again) ... using a Lux III which i have at my disposal (got it as a gift from Warren, when i purchased 2 Nuwai QIII's /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif ). Since i do not want to use a converter (just as yet, experimenting first) i want to Direct Drive the Lux III ... from 2 Alkaline (Duracell Ultra's) having O.C. voltage of 1.55 Volts

I do not know what kind of bin code is LED because its a hi-dome Emitter.... (nothing is printed on back) ....

So How Good / Bad will this be ?

I tried to drive it using a CR2032 Cell, and its BRIGHT /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif ... well the current was limited to 60 mA .... i do not want to take any risk... driving this directly by Alkaline... (fear that it might BLOW off)... and its the only one that i have currently....

Also, which kind of "optic" will drect fit the mini M-G 2AA, the Dia is about 22 mm (for the orignal optic) ... Is it possible to use a "Reflector" instead of an "Optic" ?

Thanks in Advance,
ViReN

Viren,
if you are DD from 2AA, you should be safe if you heatsink the luxeon. (assuming your lux is other than red or orange)
A point thought, it is not really called DD your lux. It is more like underdriving the lux since it is unlikely that you are running the lux at its rated 350 mA.
NX05 and NX01 will direct fit into MM.

Hello shiftd,

Thanks for your response. Its a White Lux III, When powered by a 1 CR2032 Cell, it emmits a very sweet warm white light.

.... actually, I had thought that DD means direct drive regardless of the current flowing.....

So, i assume it will be safe to drive Lux III directly using 2 AA Cells, though the current flowing through it will be less (not to the rated 700 mA) ...

If the current flowing is less, will i still require to do the heatsinking? what could be the current flowing through it.. when we are using 2 AA Alkaline's... any guestimates ?

Thanks & Regards,
ViReN

Hi , It better to use 1 watt to DD from 2 alkaline cell. It is the same bright as low feedingLuxIII.

Well, the point of thos was that he already had the emmitter.

shiftd: you could use 1 of the 14500's and a dummy cell and pull it off nicely.

Hallis, using 14500 is what i would define DD.

Actually viren, you are right. DD means that you are driving the lux with the batts only, without anything in the middle. But i just get used to the assumption that DD = overdrive /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif
My guesstimate for 2AA Alky would be about 200 ~ 250 mA current flows. If you use lithium, you might very well get 350 mA. But you can never get 700 mA from 2 cell alkys to the lux unless you are using step up of some sort.
As a matter of fact, inretech is doing the exact thing with their replacement luxeon, that plug straight into the original mag bulb holes. Theirs has very minimal heatsinking. They state that this is safe but not recommended for lithium.
However, i digress and decided it is better to have overkill heatsink than no heatsinking at all. It is your lux and it is your choice, but at least get the lux a heatsink at least like the BB emitter board. (that would be adequate, btw)

If you want to do DD with AA's, I would definitely suggest Lithium AA's. The Alky's will not give you much brightness at all, and will dim steadily from there. Depending on Vf bin, the Lithiums will give reasonable output. Also, an analysis I've seen done with CMG Reactor (2xAA DD) concluded that cost per hour of use is better with Lithiums, even though they cost a LOT more, because they produce good output much longer. Some heatsinking will be needed. Maybe get a bare emitter board from the Shoppe, that's probably the easiest thing. Not much of a heatsink, but if it's good enough for a MM+ sandwich, it's good enough for DD off two AA's.

Anyone have runtime plot of DD 3 watt with 1 li-ion cell.?
I used to DD with Li-ion cell. 1 Li-ion will give around 1 amp to LuxIII but don't know the runtime to protect bare cell.

Hello All,

Thanks for your suggestions. I will try to do some experimentation now /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Looks like DD'ing Using Lithium's & Li-Ions will do a lot of good thing /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Key is to provide a good heat sinking....

Now, I need to search for a good Heat Conducting epoxy..... by any chance, does any one have any idea ?...

ViReN

epoxy, you can use AA (Artic alumina) or AS (arctic silver). Both are electrically insulative (sp?), though the AS is slightly capacitive, which may or may not have any effect with your DD'ed light.